Assembly
by defyingnormalcy
Summary: A fic inspired by my own moving adventure a few months ago. Hobbs/Raydor established couple.


"Honey, I think it goes in the other way," Sharon gently pointed out.

Andrea brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of her face and huffed. "No, it's definitely this way. I think I've got to push a little harder though, to make sure it's all the way in, you okay with that?" she asked.

Sharon gripped the smooth wood of the headboard a little tighter and nodded her consent. "Go for it."

Andrea bit her lip in concentration and the muscle of her forearm flexed as she put more force behind her thrust. Sharon grunted a little as she braced herself for the impact and hissed as Andrea twisted her arm to lodge the ridged cylinder into its place. Once secured, Andrea slumped back and groaned; she shook her wrist out and flexed her fingers.

"Next time we buy a new bedroom set, we hire someone to assemble it for us," she murmured before she could help herself.

Sharon released her death grip on the headboard a little now that the supporting beam was properly in place, and put her hands on her hips. "This, from the woman who insisted we should do the assembling ourselves?" she asked, a little amused, a little annoyed. "What happened to, 'oh but it will be great! We can get it done in a day and then we can say that we literally built our home from bottom to top!' Hmmm?"

Andrea grimaced as she threw her hands up in surrender. "Once again, you are right." She threw an apologetic look Sharon's way. "But, we can laugh at it later, right?" she asked hopefully.

Sharon looked around them and surveyed the half-assembled bedframe, the small nightstand, which, alone, had taken them nearly an hour to assemble, and the still unassembled eight-drawer piece and the wardrobe. She sighed and looked back at her exhausted, sweaty, and sore fiancée. "I think it will be a while before we can laugh at this. It's almost lunchtime and we haven't even finished this," she gestured to the half-assembled piece in front of them, "Are you sure that you don't want to call your brother? He did offer…" she trailed off, not wanting to push Andrea too far.

Andrea hardened her resolve. "I'm sure. I can do this." Really, she wasn't sure that her back could take much more, but she was determined to make a home for Sharon.

About six months into their relationship, Sharon had made an offhand remark about how Jackson had left her to do all the packing and unpacking when they first moved in together, and again when they moved to a larger home to accommodate their growing family. She knew that Sharon had only shared that part of her past with her, and not truly expected anything out of it from Andrea, but that hadn't stopped Andrea from wanting to 'right' that part of Sharon's past. Enraged and devastated, Andrea had internalized that bit of Sharon's history and silently vowed to be the exact opposite sort of partner when they were ready to cohabit with each other.

Sharon pursed her lips and sighed again as Andrea picked up the instructions to prepare herself for the next step; she just knew that there was simply no sense in arguing with her endearingly stubborn partner. And, to be entirely truthful, Andrea's persistence and stubborn independence was what initially drew Sharon to her all those years ago when they first met as colleagues.

"Just promise me that we'll take a rest if you need to, okay?" Sharon asked as she reached out to squeeze Andrea's tense and knotted shoulder.

Andrea's frown softened at the contact. "I promise," she said, looking away from the crinkled instructions in her hands to offer Sharon a reassuring smile.

Andrea hissed as she sunk into the hot, soothing water of their clawfoot tub. Her back muscles were contracting violently in protest against the hours of unusual physical labour. She had, at her insistence, given herself the more labour-heavy tasks today, knowing that had Sharon taken on the tasks, she'd have aggravated an old back injury. Instead, Andrea had asked Sharon to help guide her by reading the assembly instructions out to her several times (often, they were accompanied with an eye roll and disbelief that Andrea needed to hear them yet again) and sorting out the seemingly hundreds of screws, nuts, and bolts required to put everything together.

"I would say that I told you so, but something tells me that you wouldn't change a thing about today," Sharon said amusedly from her position leaning against the doorframe.

"Nope," Andrea said proudly. "We assembled an entire furniture set in record time!"

Sharon rolled her eyes affectionately and came to crouch down next to Andrea. "Yes, and I am pretty sure that you're paying the price for it now," she pointed out.

Andrea shrugged beneath the water and attempted to offer Sharon a smile, though it came across as more of a grimace. "It was worth it."

Sharon regarded Andrea carefully for a moment before standing, then stripping her rumpled clothing off.

"Definitely worth it," Andrea purred as her eyes traced familiar, loved, places on Sharon's body. She tried to shift suddenly to create space in the tub for Sharon, but winced as her shoulder violently protested.

Sharon caught the gesture and Andrea huffed in defeat; she smirked triumphantly as she too eased herself into the tub. They arranged themselves with some awkwardness and giggled when they heard the telltale splosh of water escaping their tub.

"Not even a full day into being here and already you're making a mess of this place, hmm?" Sharon teased. A hand trailed up Andrea's thigh, eliciting a groan from the back of Andrea's throat; the pleasurable sensation was a delightful contrast to the soreness she felt all over.

"That's right. And later, I'm going to take you to bed and make a mess of our new bed sheets too," Andrea promised. "Just as soon as a take a Tylenol or something," she added sheepishly.

Sharon hummed; her expression turned thoughtful and she said, "You know, breaking your back to put together our new home wasn't necessary to prove to me that you are ten times the person my ex-husband was on his best day." She twisted her neck a bit to look up at Andrea and peck a flushed, embarrassed cheek. "And don't deny that this wasn't what today was about. I saw the way you were glaring at him at Ricky's engagement party."

Andrea blushed and frowned. She was guilty as charged. "He was being such a….you know what, forget him. I'm not going to let him interfere with what we've built. I did what I did today because I wanted to make sure that this move was filled with happy memories for you," she said quietly. The mere mention of Sharon's ex, who Andrea had unfortunately been forced to deal with a few weeks ago for the sake of Sharon's eldest son and his soon-to-be-wife, had her blood pressure rising.

Sharon grasped Andrea's hand. "Oh honey, absolutely every moment spent with you has been a happy memory."

Andrea hummed contently and wrapped her arms around Sharon completely.

"And I really do appreciate that you went through so much trouble for us today, even if it's rendered you incapacitated," she added.

Andrea huffed. "I'm not incapacitated, I'm just…in need of a recharge. Give me twenty minutes to soak my muscles, I'll be back to myself in no time."

Sharon chuckled, "Yes dear."

After ensuring all the doors and windows were locked, Andrea tiptoed back into her shared bedroom with Sharon to find her lover waiting up for her.

Her chestnut hair was a riot, spilling out over their pillows, and she wore a serene smile; Andrea knew in her heart that there could be no greater beauty than the one before her. A part of her was in disbelief still, that they managed to get this far, here, with one another. But the startling image of their belongings mixed together in this house, Sharon's eyeglasses on top of Andrea's book on the nightstand, was a beautiful reminder that this was all in fact their new reality.

"Everything secure Counselor?" Sharon asked sleepily, a hint of humour coloured her tone. Andrea had an endearing, albeit sometimes exasperating, habit of checking things over numerous times.

"Mmmhmm," Andrea replied. She leaned against the doorway of their bedroom and grinned. "Not to brag, but I do good work," she said as she surveyed the newly assembled furniture in the space.

"Definitely quality work," Sharon chuckled, recalling the test they'd put their new bedframe through after their shared soak in the tub. She regarded Andrea for a silent moment, loving the pride and confidence in her lover's eyes as she took in this new reality of their lives together. "Come to bed, I miss you," Sharon requested softly.

Never one to disobey her Captain, Andrea eased into bed; she groaned as she felt a click in her back.

Sharon spooned Andrea's back and giggled into her shoulder. "Tomorrow I'll give you a backrub," she kissed the sleepy words into Andrea's shoulder. "And you can make me that chili that I love for lunch as a thank you."

Andrea's heart swelled as she felt Sharon's breathing even out against her shoulder. "That sounds perfect," she mused out loud before following Sharon to sleep.


End file.
